Another nurse fired from HCA for speaking out against staffing

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
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“The safety concerns of Ms. Stephens were tragically realized in October of 2018 when a patient came to the ED seeking help for heart-related symptoms. Rather than immediately being tested with an EKG and being transferred to the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, the individual patiently waited more than a half-an-hour without proper assistance until she died. Upon information and belief, the understaffing issue at Portsmouth Hospital caused or contributed to the patient not receiving timely medical care,” said the suit filed through Manchester attorney Sean R. List.

This usually gets priority and patients sent immediately to the back. No excuse for this.

Also, where's the first firing? I missed that thread.

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Other than the shareholders, does anyone have anything good to say about HCA? I’ve never worked there, but I’m thinking it’s got to be pretty miserable from all the stories I see.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

I worked for an HCA hospital. It was my first nursing job. It was okay - staffing WAS pretty rough and they had a habit of just not filling openings when people inevitably quit. Interestingly, one manager would swear there was no money for anything. Then got promoted. Then a new manager came along and suddenly there was money for all sorts of things. There is heavy emphasis on controlling costs and their bonuses came from that. There was also super heavy emphasis on patient satisfaction and those blasted surveys.

The floor I worked on had fantastic nurses. The patient population was difficult and ratios were at times insane - ICU Stepdown, five patients, some total care, many on drips, including cardiac titrations and DKA patients on an insulin drip, CIWA patients, almost all on telemetry, TBIs and fresh traumas, spinal surgeries and new paraplegics, etc etc. About 36 beds on the floor, you'd have two techs the vast majority of the time It was NUTS. That being said, the individuals definitely had good intentions, were good nurses and we worked hard together to make it work. the techs were exhausted and often bitter. On Sundays we would run out of supplies due to them not allowing restocking on the weekends and if you didn't hire in at the pay rate you were hoping for, you would realize that pay almost never goes up.

I hated HCA, but I dearly loved my floor. I learned a lot. But yeah - they never turned patients away. EVER. We were chronically understaffed.

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Specializes in ER OR LTC Code Blue Trauma Dog.
9 hours ago, not.done.yet said:

Then a new manager came along and suddenly there was money for all sorts of things. There is heavy emphasis on controlling costs and their bonuses came from that.

The practice of encouraging reductions in nursing care in exchange for bonus payments for management staff is unethical.

I suspect any paying customers of the facility wouldn't be pleased to hear their care is being compromised at this self serving expense.

I wonder what the governor of the state feels about this practice that's diminishing the healthcare services the public is receiving?

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Specializes in Hospice Home Care and Inpatient.

My facity was recently bought by HCA. There is very notable difference in staffing and care supplies. I forget exact number in profit they made last year but it is way up there in Billions.

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Specializes in ER OR LTC Code Blue Trauma Dog.
5 minutes ago, MSO4foru said:

My facity was recently bought by HCA. There is very notable difference in staffing and care supplies. I forget exact number in profit they made last year but it is way up there in Billions.

47 Billion give or take a few 100 nurses annual salaries.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

Nah, HCA's been voted world's most ethical corporation for 10 years in a row. ?...https://investor.hcahealthcare.com/press-release/hca-healthcare-named-worlds-most-ethical-company-10th-consecutive-year

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Specializes in Medsurg.
5 hours ago, juan de la cruz said:

Nah, HCA's been voted world's most ethical corporation for 10 years in a row. ?...https://investor.hcahealthcare.com/press-release/hca-healthcare-named-worlds-most-ethical-company-10th-consecutive-year

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I worked at the local HCA hospital.... It sucked. Too long to write.

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Specializes in ER OR LTC Code Blue Trauma Dog.
7 hours ago, juan de la cruz said:

Nah, HCA's been voted world's most ethical corporation for 10 years in a row. ?...https://investor.hcahealthcare.com/press-release/hca-healthcare-named-worlds-most-ethical-company-10th-consecutive-year

Sounds like they need all the propaganda they can get. ?

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
12 hours ago, Snatchedwig said:

tenor (3).gif

I worked at the local HCA hospital.... It sucked. Too long to write.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
On 8/10/2019 at 4:53 PM, juan de la cruz said:

Nah, HCA's been voted world's most ethical corporation for 10 years in a row. ?...https://investor.hcahealthcare.com/press-release/hca-healthcare-named-worlds-most-ethical-company-10th-consecutive-year

Voted by their shareholders? How precious.

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